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Poems. 



dickens;: cricket on the Hearth/ 

Christmas Carol. 
DE QUINCEY. Revolt of the Tartars. 
EMERSON. Nature Essays. 
ELIOT. Silas Marner. 
EWING. Jackanapes. 

Story of a Short Life. 
FRANKLIN. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 
GASKELL. Cranford 
GRIMM. Household Tales. 
GOLDSMITH. Vicar of Wakefield. 

The Deserted Village, The Traveller, 
The Good-natured Man. 
HAWTHORNE. Texts complete without notes. 

Twice-Told Tales. I. 

Twice-Told Tales. II. 

House of the Seven Gables. I. 

House of the Seven Gables. II. 

Wonder Book. 



THE 

COURTSHIP 

OF 

MILES STANDISH 

BY 

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 

WITH NOTES BY M. A. EATON, A.B. 



REVISED EDITION 



EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

BOSTON 
New York Chicago San Francisco 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Cepies Receivec 
JAN 13 1908 

Copyrifni kntry 

CLASS 4 XXc. NO. 

COPY B.^ 



V 



Copyright, 1907 

By 

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 





CONTENTS. 

.... J 

Introduction . • | - 


Page 

. 5 


I. 


Miles Standish . . ; . 


II 


II. 


Love and Friendship . ■. 


. 21 


HI. 


The Lover's Errand '." ' . 


33 


IV. 


John Alden .... 


• 45 


,v. 


The Sailing of the Mayflower . 


59 


VI. 


Priscilla .... 


- 73 


VII. 


The March of Miles Standish . 


83 


VIII. 


The Spinning-Wheel 


• 93 


IX. 


The Wedding-Day 


103 




HENKY W. LONOFELLOW 



INTRODUCTION. 



LIFE OF LONGFELLOW. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow belongs to that 
small band of truly cultivated men of letters, of 
whom America may justly be proud. From his 
early youth he was a scholar and his keenest 
pleasure was in hard study or in delightful musings 
over his books. 

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, on 
the twenty- seventh of February, 1807. He early 
showed a remarkable power of acquiring languages 
and was ready to enter Bowdoin College at four- 
teen. Here he devoted himself chiefly to languages 
and literary studies. A foreign tongue, once mas- 
tered, was always at his command, even though he 
had not used it for years. "I cannot imagine," 
he once said, late in life, " what it would be to take 
up a language and try to master it at this period of 
my life. I cannot remember how or when I learned 
any of them — to-night I have been speaking 
German, without finding the least difficulty." 

During these four years in college he wrote his 
first poems, many of which were printed in ''The 
United States Literary Gazette." The first poem' 

5 



6 INTRODUCTION 

he ever wrote was called "The Battle of Lovell's 
Pond," and was published in a Portland new^s- 
paper. That same evening the young poet was 
invited to the house of the Chief Justice to meet 
his son, just returned from Harvard. In the course 
of the evening, the judge turned to his son and 
said, "Did you see a poem in to-day's paper upon 
the Battle of Lovell's Pond?" "No, sir," said the 
boy, "I did not." "Well," responded his father, 
"it was a very stiff production. Get your own 
poem on the subject and I will read it to the com- 
pany." Meanwhile Longfellow sat very quietly in 
the corner. 

In spite of this adverse criticism, the young 
author had determined upon a literary career, and 
when his college life was over, he persuaded his 
father to let him spend another year of study at 
Harvard, instead of beginning the study of law, 
as the latter wished. 

Fortunately for him, a new professorship of lan- 
guages had recently been established at Bowdoin 
College and the position was offered to Longfellow 
with the proposal that he should spend a year 
abroad in study before commencing his new duties. 
The offer was gladly accepted and Longfellow spent 
more than three years in France, Spain, Italy, 
Germany, Holland and England, before he finally 
settled at Bowdoin, at the age of twenty-two. Here 



INTRODUCTION 7 

he remained for two years, and married the daughter 
of Judge Potter of Portland. 

At the end of that time he was appointed to the 
professorship of modern languages at Harvard and 
again went abroad to become more familiar with 
German. Here he suffered a terrible sorrow, for 
his beautiful young wife died at Rotterdam, and 
he was left to come home alone, and enter upon a 
solitary life at Cambridge. 

He chose the fine old Craigie House as his resi- 
dence and soon gathered about him a delightful 
company of friends. His life was full of work and 
everything from his pen was eagerly welcomed, 
but still he felt keenly the need of a home and 
so, after many years of loneliness, he married 
Frances Appleton, a very beautiful and cultivated 
woman. 

Craigie House soon became noted as a delightful 
centre of hospitality, not only for the many friends 
at home, but for all the noted foreigners who visited 
this country. There were books everywhere and, 
although no catalogue was ever made of this library, 
the owner was never at a loss where to look for a 
needed volume. But it was the poet himself that 
attracted people and not the books, the home, nor 
the delightful guests who assembled there. 

"His dignity and grace," says Mr. Winter, "and 
the beautiful refinement of his countenance, together 



8 INTRODUCTION 

with his perfect taste in dress and the exquisite 
simplicity of his manners, made him the absolute 
ideal of what a poet should be. His voice, too, 
was soft, sweet, and musical, and, like his face, it 
had the innate charm of tranquillity. His eyes were 
blue-gray, very bright and brave, changeable under 
the influence of emotion . . . but mostly calm, 
grave, attentive and gentle. The habitual expres- 
sion of his face was not that of sadness, and yet it 
was pensive. Perhaps it may best be described as 
that of serious and tender thoughtfulness. He had 
conquered his own sorrovs^s thus far; but the sorrows 
of others threw their shadow over him. . . . 
There was a strange touch of sorrowful majesty 
and prophetic fortitude commingled with the com. 
posure and kindness of his features. . . . His 
spontaneous desire, the natural instinct of his great 
heart, was to be helpful — to lift up the lowly, to 
strengthen the weak, to bring out the best in every 
person, to dry every tear, and make every pathway 
smooth." 

Here in Cambridge the poet passed the rest of 
liis life, although he visited Europe again, but after 
the death of his wife he aged rapidly and he resigned 
his professorship in 1854. His chief love was for 
music and little children, and he had many small 
friends. 

One day a little boy, who often came to see him, 



INTRODUCTION 9 

after examining the great library carefully, asked, 
''Have you got 'Jack the Giant-Killer'?^" 

Longfellow was obliged to confess that he had 
not. The little boy looked very sorry and presently 
went away; but next morning he returned and 
gravely handed the poet two cents with which he 
was to buy a "Jack the Giant-Killer" for his 
own. 

In March, 1882, the poet passed quietly away 
leaving the legacy of a beautiful, scholarly life, 
which is even more to be treasured than his poetry, 

Longfellow's principal works, with the dates of 
their publication, are as follows: Translation of the 
Spanish Poem by Don Jorge Manrique on the 
Death of his Father, 1833; Outre Mer, 1835; -Hy- 
perion, and Voices of the Night, 1841; Ballads and 
other Poems, 1842; Poems on Slavery, 1843; ^^^ 
Spanish Student, 1845; the Poets and Poetry of 
Europe, and The Belfry of Bruges, 1847; Evan- 
geline, 1848; Kavanagh, a tale, 1849; The Seaside 
and the Fireside, and the Golden Legend, 185 1; 
The Song of Hiawatha, 1855; Miles Standish, 1858; 
Tales of a Wayside Inn, 1863; Flower de Luce, 
1866; Translation of Dante, 1867-70; New Eng- 
land Tragedies, 1869; The Divine Tragedy, 1871; 
Three Books of Song, 1872; The Hanging of the 
Crane, 1874; Keramos, 1878. 




MYLE8 STANDISH. 



The original portrait of Myles Standish was purchased by Roger Gil- 
bert, shortly before the war of 1812, froin a branch of the Chew family 
at German town, Philadelphia. In 1877, it was sold by Jas. Gilbert, a 
grand-nephew of the above Roger, to Capt. A. M. Harrison of the 
U- S. Coast Survey Service of Plymouth, Mass. There is a tradition in 
the Standish family that a portrait of Capt. Myles Standish existed and 
was taken to Pennsylvania by one of Alexander Stanrtish's descendants 
and that this branch of the family died out after two or three genera- 
tions. The portrait is painted on wood. Capt. Standish went to Eng- 
land for the Plymouth Colony in 1625 and probably had it painted there 
at that time, as it bears that date. It is supposed to have been painted 
by Cornelius .Tanssen, born of Flemish parents in England, who painted 
almost exclusively on wood. 



The Courtship of Miles Standish 
I. 

MILES STANDISH. 

In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land 

of the Pilgrims, 
To and fro in a room of his simple and primitive 

dwelhng, 
Clad in doublet and hose, and boots of Cordovan 

leather. 
Strode, with a martial air, Miles Standish the 

Puritan Captain. 
Buried in thought he seemed, with his hands 

behind him, and pausing 5 

Ever and anon to behold his glittering weapons 

of warfare. 
Hanging in shining array along the walls of the 

chamber — 

3. Cordovan. Leather manufactured in Cordova, a 
city of Spain famous for its production of leather and silver- 
ware. 

4. Puritan. Protestants of England who were per- 
secuted for their unwilHngness to conform to the Catholic 
ceremonies of the Established Church. In consequence, a 
company of them embarked on the Mayflower in 1620 for 
the New World. 



12 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Cutlass and corselet of steel, and his trusty sword 
of Damascus, 

Curved at the point and inscribed with its mysti- 
cal Arabic sentence. 

While underneath, in a corner, were a fowling- 
piece, musket, and matchlock. lo 

Short of stature he was, but strongly built and 
athletic, 

Broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, with mus- 
cles and sinews of iron; 

Brown as a nut was his face, but his russet beard 
was already 

Flaked with patches of snow, as hedges some- 
times in November. 

Near him was seated John Alden, his friend, 
and household companion. 

Writing with diligent speed at a table of pine 
by the window; 15 

8. Cutlass. A strong curved sword with a basket-hilt, 
used especially at sea when boarding vessels. 

8. Corselet. Armor for the body; generally the word 
refers especially to the breastplate. 

8. Damascus. The ancient capital- of Syria, whose 
swords were famous the world over. 

ID. Fowling-piece. A light gun for shooting birds. 

10. Matchlock. A gun fired by means of a lighted 
match. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 13 

Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with deHcate Saxon 

complexion. 
Having the dew of his youth, and the Vjeauty 

thereof, as the captives 
Whom Saint Gregory saw, and exclaimed, 

''Not Angles but Angels." 
Youngest of all was he of the men who came in 

the May Flower. 20 

Suddenly breaking the silence, the dihgent 

scribe interrupting. 
Spake, in the pride of his heart, Miles Standish 

the Captain of Plymouth. 
"Look at these arms," he said, ''the warlike 

weapons that hang here 
Burnished and bright and clean, as if for parade 

or inspection! 
This is the sword of Damascus I fought with 

in Flanders; this breastplate, 25 

19. Saint Gregory. (540-604.) He was made Pope in 
5QO. It is said that, in seeing some heathen Anglo-Saxon 
youths exposed for sale in the slave market at Rome, he 
exclaimed, "They would be indeed not Angli but angeli if 
they were Christians." It was he who sent Saint Augustine 
as a missionary to Britain. 

21. Scribe. From the Latin scribere, one who writes. 

25. Flmiders. Miles Standish fought in the Netherlands 
in their revolt against Spanish rule. 



14 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Well I remember the day! once saved my life 

in a skirmish; 
Here in front you can see the very dint of the 

bullet 
Fired point-blank at my heart by a Spanish 

arcabucero. 
Had it not been of sheer steel, the forgotten 

bones of Miles Standish 
Would at this moment be mould, in their grave 

in the Flemish morasses." 30 

Thereupon answered John Alden, but looked 

not up from his v^riting : 
''Truly the breath of the Lord hath slackened 

the speed of the bullet; 
He in his mercy preserved you, to be our shield 

and our v^^eapon!" 
Still the Captain continued, unheeding the words 

of the stripling: 
''See how bright they are burnished, as if an 

arsenal hanging; 35 

That is because I have done it myself, and not 

left it to others. 
Serve yourself, would you be well served, is an 

excellent adage; 

28. Arcabucero. Spanish for "musketeer." 
37. Adage. An old and wise saying. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 15 

So I take care of my arms, as you of your pens 

and your inkhom. 
Then, too, there are my soldiers, my great, in- 
vincible army, 
Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest 

and his matchlock, 40 

Eighteen shiUings a month, together v^ith diet* 

and pillage, 
And, like Caesar, I know the name of each of 

my soldiers!" 
This he said with a smile, that danced in his 

eyes, as the sunbeams 
Dance on the waves of the sea, and vanish again 

in a moment. 
Alden laughed as he wrote, and still the Captain 

continued : 4 5 

"Look! you can see from this window my 

brazen howitzer planted 
High on the roof of the church, a preacher who 

speaks to the purpose, 

38. Inkhom. A case of horn or wood for carrying ink 
and writing materials. 

42. Cccsar. Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) The famous 
Roman general who conquered Gaul. 

46. Howitzer. A kind of cannon used for firing small 
shells. 



i6 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Steady, straight-forward, and strong, with irre- 
sistible logic. 

Orthodox, flashing conviction right into the 
hearts of the heathen. 

Now we are ready, I think, for any assault of 
the Indians; 50 

Let them come, if they like, and the sooner they 
try it the better — 

Let them come if they like, be it sagamore, 
sachem, or pow-wow, 

Aspinet, Samoset, Corbitant, Squanto, or To- 
kamahamon!" 

Long at the window he stood, and wistfully 

gazed on the landscape. 
Washed with a cold gray mist, the vapory 

breath of the east-wind, 55 

Forest and meadow and hill, and the steel-blue 

rim of the ocean, 

49. Orthodox. One whose opinions on any subject 
conform to an accepted standard; used especially of philo- 
sophical doctrines. 

52. Sagamore, sachem. Indian chiefs of the second and 
first ranks. 

52. Pow-wow. An Indian priest or conjuror. 

53. Aspinet, etc. Indian chiefs of Massachusetts tribes, 
generally friendly to the Pilgrims. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 17 

Lying silent and sad, in the afternoon shadows 

and sunshine. 
Over his countenance flitted a shadow like those 

on the landscape, 
Gloom intermingled with light; and his voice 

was subdued with emotion. 
Tenderness, pity, regret, as after a pause he 

proceeded: 60 

''Yonder there, on the hill by the sea, Hes buried 

Rose Standish; 
Beautiful rose of love, that bloomed for me by 

the wayside! 
She was the first to die of all who came in the 

May Flower! 
Green above her is growing the field of wheat 

we have sown there. 
Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves 

of our people, 65 

Lest they should count them and see how many 

already have perished!" 
Sadly his face he averted, and strode up and 

down, and was thoughtful. 

Fixed on the opposite wall was a shelf of 
books, and among them 
Prominent three, distinguished alike for bulk 
and for binding; 



i8 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Banff's Artillery Guide, and the Commentaries 
of Caesar, 70 

Out of the Latin translated by Arthur Goldinge 
of London, 

And, as if guarded by these, between them was 
standing the Bible. 

Musing a moment before them, Miles Standish 
paused, as if doubtful 

Which of the three he should choose for his 
consolation and comfort. 

Whether the wars of the Hebrews, the famous 
campaigns of the Romans, 75 

Or the Artillery practice, designed fcr bellig- 
erent Christians. 

Finally down from the shelf he dragged the 
ponderous Roman, 

Seated himself at the window,, and opened the 
book, and in silence 

Turned o'er the well-worn leaves, where thumb- 
marks thick on the margin. 

Like the trample of feet, proclaimed the battle 
was hottest. 80 

70. Commentaries. A history written by the great Ro- 
man general, Julius Caesar, describing his own conquests in 
Gaul. 

71. Arthur Goldinge. (1536-1605.) A minor writer 
whose chief work was translation. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 19 

Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying 

pen of the stripHng, 
Busily writing epistles important, to go by the 

May Flower, 
Ready to sail on the morrow, or next day at 

latest, God willing! 
Homeward bound with the tidings of all that 

terrible winter, 
Letters written by Alden, and full of the name 

of Priscilla, 85 

Full of the name and the fame of the Puritan 

maiden Priscilla! 




MILES STANDISH S AUTOGRAPH, SWORD AND DISH 



II. 

LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP 

Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying 

pen of the stripHng, 
Or an occasional sigh from the laboring heart 

of the Captain, 
Reading the marvellous words and achievements 

of Julius Caesar. 
After a while he exclaimed, as he smote with 

his hand, palm downwards, 
Heavily on the page: ''A wonderful man was 

this Caesar! 5 

You are a writer, and I am a fighter, but here 

is a fellow 
Who could both write and fight, and in both 

was equally skilful!" 
Straightway answered and spake John Alden, 

the comely, the youthful: 
''Yes, he was equally skilled, as you say, with 

his pen and his weapons. 
Somewhere have I read, but where I forget, 

he could dictate lo 



-2 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Seven letters at once, at the same time writing 

his memoirs." 
''Truly," continued the Captain, not heeding 

or hearing the other, 
"Truly a wonderful man was Caius Julius 

Caesar! 
Better be first, he said, in a little Iberian 

village, 
Than be second in Rome, and I think he was 

right when he said it. 15 

Twice he was married before he was twenty, 

and many times after; 
Battles five hundred he fought, and a thousand 

cities he conquered; 
He, toe, fought in Flanders, as he himself has 

recorded ; 
Finally he was stabbed by his friend, the orator 

Brutus! 
Now, do you know what he did on a certain 

occasion in Flanders, 20 



14. Iberian. Iberia was a province between the Caucasus 
Mountains and Armenia. The name was also given to Spain 
and Portugal. 

18. Flanders. Caesar defeated the Belgae in 57 B.C. 

19. Brutus. Junius Marcus. He was at first an ad- 
herent of Caesar but was induced by Cassius to become his 
.assassin, March 15, 44 B.C. 



I 



COURTSHIP OF MILi:S STANDISH 23 

When the rear-guard of his army retreated, the 

front giving way, too, 
And the immortal Twelfth Legion was crowded 

so closely together 
There was no room for their swords? Why, 

he seized a shield from a soldier 
Put himself straight at the head of his troops, 

and commanded the captains, 
CaUing on each by his name, to order forward 

the ensigns; 25 

Then to widen the ranks, and give more room 

for their weapons; 
So he won the day, the battle of something-or- 

other. 
That's what I always say; if you wish a thing 

to be well done. 
You must do it yourself, you must not leave it 

to others!" 

All was silent again; the Captain continued 
his reading. 30 

Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying 
pen of the stripling 

22. Twelfth Legion. The main divisions of the Roman 
army were called legions and numbered, as are our regiments. 
The Twelfth was especially famed in Caesar's army for its 
bravery. 



24 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Writing epistles important to go next day by 

the May Flower, 
Filled with the name and the fame of the 

Puritan maiden Priscilla; 
Every sentence began or closed with the name 

of Priscilla, 
Till the treacherous pen, to which he confided 

the secret, 35 

Strove to betray it by singing and shouting the 

name of Priscilla! 
Finally closing his book, with a bang of the 

ponderous cover, 
Sudden and loud as the sound of a soldier 

grounding his musket, 
Thus to the young man spake Miles Standish 

the Captain of Plymouth: 
''When you have finished your work, I have 

something important to tell you. 40 

Be not however in haste; I can wait; I shall 

not be impatient!" 
Straightway Alden replied, as he folded the last 

of his letters. 
Pushing his papers aside, and giving respectful 

attention : 
"Speak; for whenever you speak, I am always 

ready to hsten, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 25 

Always ready to hear whatever pertains to 

Miles Standish." 45 

Thereupon answered the Captain, embarrassed, 

and cuUing his phrases: 
'' 'Tis not good for a man to be alone, say the 

Scriptures. 
This I have said before, and again and again I 

repeat it; 
Every hour in the day, I think it, and feel it, 

and say it. 
Since Rose Standish died, my life has been 

weary and dreary; 50 

Sick at heart have I been, beyond the healing 

of friendship. 
Oft in my lonely hours have I thought of the 

maiden Priscilla. 
She is alone in the world; her father and 

mother and brother 
Died in the winter together; I saw her going 

and coming, , 

Now to the grave of the dead, and now to the 

bed of the dying, 55 

Patient, courageous, and strong, and said to 

myself, that if ever 

47. " ^Tis not good,^^ etc. And the Lord God said, It 
is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an 
helpmeet for him. — Gen. 11., 18. 



26 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

There were angels on earth, as there are angels 

in heaven, 
Tvv^o have I seen and known; and the angel 

whose name is Priscilla 
Holds in my desolate life the place which the 

other abandoned. 
Long have I cherished the thought, but never 

have dared to reveal it, 60 

Being a coward in this, though valiant enough 

for the most part. 
Go to the damsel Priscilla, the loveliest maiden 

of Plymouth, 
Say that a blunt old Captain, a man not of 

words but of actions, 
Offers his hand and his heart, the hand and 

heart of a soldier. 
Not in these words, you loiow, but this in short 

is my meaning; 65 

I am a maker of war, and not a make]- of 

phrases. 
Y u, who are bred as a scholar, can say it in 

elegant language, 
Such as you read in your books of the pleadings 

and wooings of lovers. 
Such as you think best adapted to win the 

heart of a maiden." 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 27 

When he had spoken, John Alden, the fair- 
haired, taciturn stripHng, 70 

All aghast at his words, surprised, embarrassed, 
bewildered, 

Trying to mask his dismay by treating the sub- 
ject with lightness, 

Trying to smile, and yet feeHng his heart stand 
still in his bosom, 

Just as a timepiece stops in a house that is 
stricken by Ughtning, 

Thus made answer and spake, or rather stam- 
mered than answered: 75 

'''Such a message as that, I am sure I should 
mangle and mar it; 

If you would have it well done — I am only 
repeating your maxim — 

You must do it yourself, you must not leave it 
to others!" 

But with the air of a man whom nothing can 
turn from his purpose. 

Gravely shaking his head, made answer the 
Captain of Plymouth: 80 

"Truly the maxim is good, and I do not mean 
to gainsay it; 

Eut we must use it discreetly, and not wasie 
powder for nothing. 



28 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Now, as I said before, I was never a maker of 

phrases. 
I can march up to a fortress and summon the 

place to surrender. 
But march up to a woman with such a proposal, 

I dare not. 85 

I'm not afraid of bullets, nor shot from the 

mouth of a cannon. 
But of a thundering 'No!' point-blank from 

the mouth of a woman. 
That I confess I'm afraid of, nor am I ashamed 

to confess it! 
So you must grant my request, for you are an 

elegant scholar, 
Having the graces of speech, and skill in the 

turning of phrases." 90 

Taking the hand of his friend, who still was 

reluctant and doubtful. 
Holding it long in his own, and pressing it 

kindly, he added: 
''Though I have spoken thus lightly, yet deep 

is the feeling that prompts me; 
Surely you cannot refuse what I ask in the 

name of our friendship!" 
Then made answer John Alden: "The name 

of friendship is sacred; 95 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 29 

What you demand in that name, I have not 

the power to deny you!" 
So the strong will prevailed, subduing and 

moulding the gentler, 
Friendship prevailed over love, and Alden went 

on his errand. 



III. 

THE lover's errand. 

So the strong will prevailed, and Alden went 

on his errand, 
Out of the street of the village, and into the 

paths of the forest. 
Into the tranquil woods, where bluebirds and 

robins were building 
Towns in the populous trees^ with hanging 

gardens of verdure, 
Peaceful, aerial cities of joy and affection and 

freedom. 5 

All around him was calm, but within him com- 
motion and conflict. 
Love contending with friendship, and self with 

each generous impulse. 
To and fro in his breast his thoughts were 

heaving and dashing. 
As in a foundering ship, with every roll of the 

vessel. 
Washes the bitter sea, the merciless surge of 

the ocean 1 lo 



32 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

''Must I relinquish it all," he cried with a wild 

lamentation, 
*'Must I relinquish it all, the joy, the hope, the 

illusion ? 
Was it for this I have loved, and waited, and 

worshipped in silence? 
Was it for tliis I have followed the flying feet 

and the shadow 
Over the wintry sea, to the desolate shores of 

New England? 15 

Truly the heart is deceitful, and out of its 

depths of corruption 
Rise, like an exhalation, the misty phantoms of 

passion ; 
Angels of light they seem, but are only delusions 

of Satan. 
All is clear to me now; I feel it, I see it dis- 
tinctly ! 
This is the hand of the Lord; it is laid upon 

me in anger, 20 

For I have followed too much the heart's desires 

and devices, 

21. Heart's desires. Compare the General Confession 
in the orders of Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book 
of Common Prayer: "Almighty and Most Merciful Father, 
we have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep. 
We have followed too much the devices and desires of 
our own hearts, we have offended against Thy holy laws,'* 
etc. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 33 

Worshipping Astaroth blindly, and impious 

idols of Baal. 
This is the cross I must bear; the sin and the 

swift retribution." 

So through the Plymouth woods John Alden 

went on his errand; 
Crossing the brook at the ford, where it brawled 

over pebble and shallow, 25 

Gathering still, as he went, the May-flowers 

blooming around him, 
Fragrant, filling the air with a strange and 

wonderful sweetness. 
Children lost in the woods, and covered with 

leaves in their slumber. 
"Puritan flowers," he said, "and the type of 

Puritan maidens. 
Modest and simple and sweet, the very type of 

Priscilla! 3° 

So I will take them to her ; to Priscilla the May 

flower of Plymouth, 

22. Astaroth. Phoenician goddess of love. She was 
known among the Greeks as Astarte. 

22. Baal. The supreme god of the Canaanites. 

26. May flowers. The traihng arbutus which grows in 
great profusion about Plymouth 



34 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Modest and simple and sweet, as a parting 

gift will I take them; 
Breathing their silent farewells, as they fade 

and wither and perish. 
Soon to be thrown away as is the heart of the 

giver." 
So through the Plymouth woods John Alden 

went on his errand; 35 

Came to an open space, and saw the disk of 

the ocean, 
Sailless, sombre and cold with the comfortless 

breath of the east-wind; 
Saw the new-built house, and people at work 

in a meadow; 
Heard, as he drew near the door, the musical 

voice of Priscilla 
Singing the hundredth Psalm, the grand old 

Puritan anthem, 40 

40. Hundredth Psalm. 

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 

"Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence 
with singing. 

" Know ye that the Lord he is God ; it is he that hath made 
us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep 
of his pasture. 

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his 
courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his 
name. 

"For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his 
truth endureth to all generations." 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 35 

Music that Luther sang to the sacred words of 

the Psalmist, 
Full of the breath of the Lord, consoling and 

comforting many. 
Then, as he opened the door, he beheld the 

form of the maiden 
Seated beside her wheel, and fhe carded wool 

Hke a snow-drift 
Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the 

ravenous spindle, 45 

While with her foot on the treadle she guided 

the wheel in its motion. 
Open wide on her lap lay the well-worn psalm- 
book of Ainsworth, 
Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the music 

together, 
Rough-hewn, angular notes, like stones in the 

wall of a church-yard. 



44. Carded. Wool which has been brushed with a 
brush having nine teeth, to disentangle and separate the 
fibers. 



45. Spindle. The pin which is used in spinning-wheels 
for twisting the thread, and on which the thread is wound. 

47. Ainsworth. (1571-1622.) An English Separatist 
who was driven to Amsterdam, where he founded, an in- 
dependent church. 



36 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Darkened and overhung by the running-vine 

of the verses. 50 

Such was the book from whose pages she sang 

the old Puritan anthem, 
She, the Puritan girl, in the soHtude of the 

forest. 
Making the humble house and the modest ap- 
parel of homespun 
Beautiful with her beauty, and rich with the 

wealth of her being! 
Over him rushed, like a wind that is keen and 

cold and relentless, 55 

Thoughts of what might have been, and the 

weight and woe of his errand; 
All the di*eams that had faded, and all the 

hopes that had vanished. 
All his hfe henceforth a dreary and tenantless 

mansion, 
Haunted by vain regrets, and paUid, sorrowful 

faces. 
Still he said to himself, and almost fiercely he 

said it, 60 

''Let not him that putteth his hand to the plough 

look backwards; 
Though the ploughshare cut through the flowers 

of life to its fountains, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



3/ 



Though it pass o'er the graves of the dead and 

the hearths of the hving. 
It is the will of the Lord; and his mercy en- 

dureth forever!" 

So he entered the house: and the hum of the 

wheel and the singing 65 

Suddenly ceased; for Priscilla, aroused by his 

step on the threshold, 
Rose as he entered, and gave him her hand, in 

signal of welcome, 
Saying, ''I knew it was you, when I heard your 

step in the passage; 
For I was thinking of you, as I sat there singing 

and spinning." 
Awkward and dumb with delight, that a thought 

of him had been mingled 70 

Thus in the sacred psalm, that came from the 

heart of the maiden. 
Silent before her he stood, and gave her the 

flowers for an answer. 
Finding no words for his thought. He remem- 
bered that day in the winter. 
After the first great snow, when he broke a 

path from the village, 

64. His mercy, etc. See Psalm cxxxvi. 



38 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Reeling and plunging along through the drifts 

that encumbered the doorway, 75 

Stamping the snow from his feet as he entered 

the house, and Priscilla 
Laughed at his snowy locks, and gave him a 

seat by the fireside, 
Grateful and pleased to know that he had 

thought of her in the snow-storm. 
Had he but spoken then! perhaps not in vain 

had he spoken; 
Now it was all too late; the golden moment 

had vanished! 80 

So he stood there abashed, and gave her the 

flowers for an answer. 

Then they sat down and talked of the birds 

and the beautiful Spring-time, 
Talked of their friends at home, and the May 

Flower that sailed on the morrow. 
"I have been thinking all day," said gently the 

Puritan maiden, 
"Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of 

the hedge-rows of England — 85 

They are in blossom now, and the country is all 

like a garden; 
Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of 

the lark and the linnet. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STAN DISH 39 

Seeing .the village street, and familiar faces of 

neighbors 
Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip 

together, 
And, at the end of the street, the village church, 

with the ivy 90 

Climbing the old gray tower, and the quiet 

graves in the churchyard. 
Kind are the people I hve with, and dear to me 

my religion; 
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back 

in Old England. 
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: 

I almost 
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so 

lonely and' wretched." 95 

Thereupon answered the youth: "Indeed I 

do not condemn you; 
Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in 

this terrible winter. 
Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a 

stronger to lean on; 
So I have come to you now, with an offer and 

proffer of marriage 



40 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish 
the Captain of Plymouth!" loo 

Thus he delivered his message, the dexterous 

writer of letters — 
Did not embelhsh the theme, nor array it in 

beautiful phrases. 
But came straight to the point, and blurted it 

out Hke a school boy; 
Even the Captain himself could hardly have 

said it more bluntly. 
Mute with amazement and sorrow, Priscilla 

the Puritan maiden 105 

Looked into Alden's face, her eyes dilated with 

wonder, 
Feeling his words Hke a blow, that stunned her 

and rendered her speechless; 
Till at length she exclaimed, interrupting the 

ominous silence: 
"If the great Captain of Plymouth is so very 

eager to wed me, 
Why does he not come himself, and take the 

trouble to woo me ? no 

If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not 

worth the winning!" 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 41 

Then John Alden began explaining and smooth- 
ing the matter, 
Making it worse as he went, by saying the 

Captain was busy — 
Had no time for such things — such things! 

the words grating harshly 
Fell on the ear of Priscilla; and swift as a 

flash she made answer: 115 

"Has he no time for such things, as you call it, 

before he is married. 
Would he be likely to find it, or make it, after 

the wedding? 
That is the way with you men; you don't 

understand us, you cannot. 
When you have made up your minds, after 

thinking of this one and that one. 
Choosing, selecting, rejecting, comparing one 

with another, 120 

Then you make known your desire, with abrupt 

and sudden avowal, 
And are offended and hurt, and indignant per- 
haps, that a woman 
Does not respond at once to a love that she 

never suspected. 
Does not attain at a bound the height to which 

you have been cHmbing. 



42 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

This is not right nor just : for surely a woman's 

affection 1 2 5 

Is not a thing to be asked for, and had for only 

the asking. 
When one is truly in love, one not only says it, 

but shows it. 
Had he but waited awhile, had he only showed 

that he loved me. 
Even this Captain of yours — who knows ? — 

at last might have won me, 
Old and rough as he is; but now it never can 

happen." 130 

Still John Alden went on, unheeding the 
words of Priscilla, 

Urging the suit of his friend, explaining, per- 
suading, expanding; 

Spoke of his courage and skill, and of his battles 
in Flanders, 

How with the people of God he had chosen to 
suffer affliction. 

How, in return for his zeal, they had made him 
Captain of Plymouth; 135 

He was a gentleman bom, could trace his pedi 
gree plainly 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 43 

Back to Hugh Standish of Duxbury Hall, in 

Lancashire, England, 
Who was the son of Ralph, and the grandson of 

Thurston de Standish; 
Heir unto vast estates, of which he was basely 

defrauded, 
Still bore the family arms, and had for his crest 

a cock argent 140 

Combed and wattled gules, and all the rest of 

the blazon. 
He was a man of honor, of noble and generous 

nature ; 
Though he was rough, he was kindly; she 

knew how during the winter 
He had attended the sick, with a hand as gentle 

as woman's; 
Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny it, 

and headstrong, 145 

Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and 

placable always, 

137. Lancashire. A maritime county in the northwest 
of England. 

140. Argent. Of silver. 

141. Combed. Having a comb. 

141. Wattled gules. Having red lobes about his jaws. 
.141. Blazon. The coat-of-arms on a shield or banner. 



44 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Not to be laughed at and scorned, because he 

was Httle of stature; 
For he was great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, 

courageous ; 
Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in 

England, 
Might be happy and proud to be called the 

wife of Miles Standish! 150 

But as he warmed and glowed, in his simple 
and eloquent language. 

Quite forgetful of self, and full of the praise of 
his rival, 

Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes over- 
running with laughter. 

Said, in a tremulous voice, "Why don't you 
speak for yourself, John?" 



IV. 

JOHN ALDEN. 

Into the open air John Alden, perplexed and 

bewildered, 
Rushed hke a man insane, and wandered alone 

by the sea-side; 
Paced up and down the sands, and bared his 

head to the east-wind, 
Cooling his heated brow, and the fire and fever 

within him. 
Slowly as out of the heavens, with apocalyptical 

splendors, 5 

Sank the City of God, in the vision of John the 

Apostle, 

5. Apocalyptical. The Revelation of Saint John in the 
New Testament is also called the Apocalypse. 

6. City oj God. 

"And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and 
high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy 
Jerusalem, descending out of the heaven from God. 

"Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto 
a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as 
crystal." — Rev., xx., 10, 11. 

45 



46 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

So, with its cloudy walls of chrysolite, jasper, 

and sapphire, 
Sank the broad red sun, and over its turrets 

uplifted 
Glimmered the golden reed of the angel who 

measured the city. 

"Welcome, O wind of the East!" he ex- 
claimed in his wild exultation, lo 

''Welcome, O wind of the East, from the caves 
of the misty Atlantic! 

Blowing o'er fields of dulse, and measureless 
meadows of sea-grass. 

Blowing o'er rocky wastes, and the grottos and 
gardens of ocean! 

Lay thy cold, moist hand on my burning fore- 
head, and wrap me 

Close in thy garments of mist, to allay the fever 
within me!" 15 

7. Walls. And the foundations of the walls of the 
city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. 
The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; 
the third a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, 
sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysoHte; the 
eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; 
the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst." 

9. Reed. The stock or rod of any plant. "And he that 
talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and 
the gates thereof, and the wall thereof." 

12. Dulse. A reddish kind of seaweed common in New 
England. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 47 

Like an awakened conscience, the sea was 

moaning and tossing, 
Beating remorseful and loud the mutable sands 

of the sea- shore. 
Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult 

of passions contending; 
Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship 

wounded and bleeding, 
Passionate cries of desire, and importunate 

pleadings of duty! 20 

''Is it my fault," he said, "that the maiden has 

chosen between us? 
Is it my fault that he failed — my fault that I 

am the victor?" 
Then within him there thundered a voice, Hke 

the voice of the Prophet: 
''It hath displeased the Lord!" — and he 

thought of David's transgression, 
Bathsheba's beautiful face, and his friend in 

the front of the battle! 25 

Shame and confusion of guilt, and abasement 

and self-condemnation, 

25. Bathsheha. The wife of Uriah the Hittite, and the 
mother of Solomon. 

25. Friend. Because Bathsheba found favor in David's 
eyes, he caused Uriah to be placed in the front of the battle 
at the siege of Rabbah, that he might be killed. 



48 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Overwhelmed him at once; and he cried in the 
deepest contrition: 

"It hath displeased the Lard! It is the tempta- 
tion of Satan ''' 



Then, uplifting his head, he looked at the 

sea, and beheld there 
Dimly the shadowy form of the May Flower 

riding at anchor, 30 

Rocked on the rising tide, and ready to sail on 

the morrow; 
Heard the voices of men through the mist, the 

rattle of cordage 
Thrown on the deck, the shouts of the mate, 

and the sailors' "Ay, ay. Sir!" 
Clear and distinct, but not loud, in the dripping 

air of the twilight. 
Still for a moment he stood, and Hstened, and 

stared at the vessel, 35 

Then went hurriedly on, as one who, seeing a 

phantom, 
Stops, then quickens his pace, and follows the 

beckoning shadow. 
"Yes, it is plain to me now," he murmured; 

"the hand of the Lord is 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 4, 

Leading me out of the land of darkness, the 

bondage of error, 
Through the sea, that shall lift the walls of its 

waters around me, 40 

Hiding me, cutting me off, from the cruel 

thoughts that pursue me. 
Back will I go o'er the ocean, this dreary land 

will abandon. 
Her whom I may not love, and him whom my 

heart has offended. 
Better to be in my grave in the green old church- 
yard in England, 
Close by my mother's side, and among the dust 

of my kindred; 45 

Better be dead and forgotten, than Hving in 

shame and dishonor! 
Sacred and safe and unseen, in the dark of the 

narrow chamber 
With me my secret shall lie, like a buried jewel 

that glimmers 
Bright on the hand that is dust, in the chambers 

of silence and darkness — 
Yes, as the marriage ring of the great espousal 

hereafter!" 50 

50. Espousal hereafter. "And I, John, saw the holy 
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." 



5° 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



Thus as he spake, he turned, in the strength 

of his strong resolution, 
Leaving behind him the shore, and hurried along 

in the twihght, 
Through the congenial gloom of the forest silent 

and sombre. 
Till he beheld the lights in the. seven houses of 

Plymouth, 
Shining like seven stars in the dusk and mist 

of the evening. 55 

Soon he entered his door, and found the re- 
doubtable Captain 
Sitting alone, and absorbed in the martial pages 

of Caesar, 
Fighting some great campaign in Hainault or 

Brabant or Flanders. 
"Long have you been on your errand," he said 

with a cheery demeanor, 
Even as one who is waiting an answer, and 

fears not the issue. 60 

"Not far off is the house, although the woods 

are between us;, 



58. Hainault. A province of Belgium, at this time 
belonging to Burgundy. 

58. Brabant. One of the Low Countries. The capital 
is Brussels. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 51 

But you have lingered so long, that while you 

were going and coming 
I have fought ten battles and sacked and de- 

moKshed a city. 
Come, sit down, and in order relate to me all 

that has happened." 

Then John Alden spake, and related the 

wondrous adventure, 65 

From beginning to end minutely, just as it 

happened ; 
How he had seen Priscilla, and how he had 

sped in his courtship, 
Only smoothing a little, and softening down her 

refusal. 
But when he came at length to the words 

Priscilla had spoken. 
Words so tender and cruel: ''Why don't you 

speak for yourself, John?" 7° 

Up leaped the Captain of Plymouth, and stamped 

on the floor, till his armor 
Clanged on the wall, where it hung, with a 

sound of sinister omen. 
All his pent-up wrath burst forth in a sudden 

explosion, 



5t COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Even as a hand-grenade, that scatters destruction 
around it. 

Wildly he shouted, and loud: ''John Alden! 
you have betrayed me! 5 

Me, Miles Standish, your friend! have sup- 
planted, defrauded, betrayed me! 

One of my ancestors ran his sword through the 
heart of Wat Tyler; 

Who shall prevent me from running my own 
through the heart of a traitor? 

Yours is the greater treason, for yours is a 
treason to friendship! 

You, who lived under my roof, whom I cherished 
and loved as a brother; 80 

You, who have fed at my board, and drunk at 
my cup, to whose keeping 

I have intrusted my honor, my thoughts the 
most sacred and secret — 

You too, Brutus! ah woe to the name of friend- 
ship hereafter! 

74. Hand-grenade. A small bomb thrown from the 
hand. 

77. Wat Tyler. The leader of a peasants' revolt in 
England in 1381. He was killed at Smithfield by Lord 
Mayor Walworth. 

83. You too, Brutus. Julius Caesar is said to have 
exclaimed, when he perceived Brutus among his assassinators, 
"Et tu, Brute!" See Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 5^ 

Brutus was Caesar's friend, and you were mine, 

but henceforward 
Let there be nothing between us save war and 

implacable hatred!" 85 

So spake the Captain of Plymouth, and strode 

about in the chamber, 
Chafing and choking with rage; like cords were 

the veins on his temples. 
But in the midst of his anger, a man appeared 

at the doorway, 
Bringing in uttermost haste a message of urgent 

importance. 
Rumors of danger and war and hostile incur- 
sions of Indians! 90 
Straightway the Captain paused, and, without 

further question or parley. 
Took from the nail on the wall his sword with 

its scabbard of iron. 
Buckled the belt round his waist, and, frowning 

fiercely, departed. 
Alden was left alone. He heard the clank of 

the scabbard 
Growing fainter and fainter, and dying away 

in the distance. 95 

Then he arose from his seat, and looked forth 

into the darkness. 



54 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Felt the cool air blow on his cheek, that was 

hot with the insult, 
Lifted his eyes to the heavens, and, folding his 

hands as in childhood, 
Prayed in the silence of night to the Father who 

seeth in secret. 

Meanwhile the choleric Captain strode wrath- 

fully away to the council, loo 

Found it already assembled, impatiently waiting 

his coming; 
Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in 

deportment. 
Only one of them old, the hill that was nearest 

to heaven, 
Covered Avith snow, but erect, the excellent 

Elder of Plymouth. 
God had sifted three kingdoms to find the wheat 

for this planting, 105 

Then had sifted the wheat, as the living seed of 

a nation; 
So say the chronicles old, and such is the faith 

of the people! 
Near them was standing an Indian, in attitude 

stem and defiant. 
Naked down to the waist, and grim and ferocious 

in aspect; 



COaRTSHIP OF MILES STAND ISH 55 

While on the table before them was lying un- 
opened a Bible, no 

Ponderous, bound in leather, brass-studded, 
printed in Holland, 

And beside it outstretched the skin of a rattle- 
snake ghttered. 

Filled, like a quiver, with arrows; a signal and 
challenge of warfare, 

Brought by an Indian, and speaking with arrowy 
tongues of defiance. 

This Miles Standish beheld, as he entered, and 
heard them debating 115 

What were an answer befitting the hostile mes- 
sage and menace. 

Talking of this and of that, contriving, suggest- 
ing, objecting; 

One voice only for peace, and that the voice of 
the Elder, 

Judging it wise and well that some at least' were 
converted, 

Rather than any were slain, for this was but 
Christian behavior! 120 

Then outspake Miles Standish, the stalwart 
Captain of Plymouth, 

Muttering deep in his throat, for his voice was 
husky with anger, 



56 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

"What! do you mean to make war with milk 
and the water of roses? 

Is it to shoot red squirrels you have your howitzer 
planted 

There on the roof of the church, or is it to shoot 
red devils? 125 

Truly the only tongue that is understood by a 
savage 

Must be the tongue of fire that speaks from the 
mouth of the cannon!" 

Thereupon answered and said the excellent 
Elder of Plymouth, 

Somewhat amazed and alarmed at this irrev- 
erent language: 

"Not so thought Saint Paul, nor yet the other 
Apostles; 130 

Not far from the cannon's mouth were the 
tongues of fire they spake with!" 

But unheeded fell this mild rebuke on the 
Captain, 

Who had advanced to the table, and thus con- 
tinued discoursing: 

"Leave this matter to me, for to me by right 
it pertaineth. 

131. Tongues of fire. A reference to the descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon the apostles at Pentecost. See Acts, 
II., I. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 57 

War is a terrible trade; but in the cause that is 
righteous, i35 

Sweet is the smell of powder; and thus I answer 
the challenge!" 

Then from the rattlesnake's skin, with a sud- 
den, contemptuous gesture, 
Jerking the Indian arrows, he filled it with 

powder and bullets 
Full to the very jaws, and handed it back to the 

savage. 
Saying, in thimdering tones: ''Here, take itl 

this is your answer!" 140 

Silently out of the room then glided the gUstening 

savage. 
Bearing the serpent's skin, and seeming himself 

hke a serpent. 
Winding his sinuous way in the dark to the 

depths of the forest. 



THE SAILING OF THE MAY FLOWER. 

Just in the gray of the dawn, as the mists 

uprose from the meadows, 
There was a stir and a sound in the slumbering 

village of Plymouth; 
Clanging and clinking of arms, and the order 

imperative, ' ' Forward ! ' ' 
Given in tone suppressed, a tramp of feet, and 

then silence. 
Figures ten, in the mist, marched slowly out 

of the village. 5 

Standish the stalwart it was, with eight of his 

valorous army. 
Led by their Indian guide, by Hobomok, friend 

of the white men, 
Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt 

of the savage. 
Giants they seemed in the mist or the mighty 

men of King David; 
Giants in heart they were, who believed in God 

and the Bible — i o 

59 



6o COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Ay, who believed in the smiting of Midianites 

and PhiHstines. 
Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners 

of morning; 
Under them loud on the sands, the serried 

billows, advancing. 
Fired along the line, and in regular order 

retreated. 

Many a mile had they marched, when at 
length the village of Plymouth, 15 

Woke from its sleep, and arose, intent on its 
manifold labors. 

Sweet was the air and soft; and slowly the 
smoke from the chimneys 

Rose over roofs of thatch, and pointed steadily 
eastward ; 

Men came forth from the doors, and paused 
and talked of the weather. 

Said that the wind had changed, and was blow- 
ing fair for the May Flower; 20 

II. Midianites. An Arabian tribe settled in the northern 
part of the Syro-Arabian desert. They were finally con- 
quered by Gideon. 

II. Philistines. A Semitic people continually at war 
with the IsraeHtes. 

18. Thatch. Straw or hay. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 6i 

Talked of their Captain's departure, and all the 

dangers that menaced, 
He being gone, the town, and what should be 

done in his absence. 
Merrily sang the birds, and the tender voices 

of women 
Consecrated with hymns the common cares of 

the household. 
Out of the sea rose the sun, and the billows 

rejoiced at his coming; 25 

Beautiful were his feet on the purple tops of 

the mountains; 
Beautiful on the sails of the May Flower riding 

at anchor. 
Battered and blackened and worn by all the 

storms of the winter. 
Loosely against her masts was hanging and 

flapping her canvas, 
Rent by so many gales, and patched by the 

hands of the sailors. 3° 

Suddenly from her side, as the sun rose over 

the ocean, 

26. Beautiful were his jeet. See Isaiah, Lii., 7. 

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him 
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that 
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; 
that saveth unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" 



62 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Darted a puff of smoke, and floated seaward; 

anon rang 
Loud over field and forest the cannon's roar, 

and the echoes 
Heard and repeated the sound, the signal-gun 

of departure! 
Ah! but with louder echoes replied the hearts 

of the people! 3 5 

Meekly, in voices subdued, the chapter was 

read from the Bible, 
Meekly the prayer was begun, but ended in 

fervent entreaty! 
Then from their houses in haste came forth 

the Pilgrims of Plymouth, 
Men and women and children, all hurrying 

down to the sea-shore. 
Eager, with tearful eyes, to say farewell to the 

May Flower, 40 

Homeward bound o'er the sea, and leaving 

them there in the desert. 

Foremost among them was Alden. All night 

he had lain without slumber, 
Turning and tossing about in the heat and 

unrest of his fever. 
He had beheld Miles Standish, who came back 

late from the council, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 63 

Stalking into the room, and heard him mutter 

and murmur, 
Sometimes it seemed a prayer, and sometimes 

it sounded Hke swearing. 45 

Once he had come to the bed, and stood there 

a moment in silence; 
Then he had turned away, and said: ''I will 

not awake him; 
Let him sleep on, it is best ; for what is the use 

of more talking!" 
Then he extinguished the hght, and threw him- 
self down on his pallet, 50 
Dressed as he was, and ready to start at the 

break of the morning — 
Covered himself with the cloak he had worn in 

his campaigns in Flanders — 
Slept as a soldier sleeps in his bivouac, ready 

for action. 
But with the dawn he arose; in the twihght 

Alden beheld him 
Put on his corselet of steel, and all the rest of 

his armor, 5 5 

Buckle about his waist his trusty blade of 

Damascus, 
Take from the corner his musket, and so stride 

out of the chamber. 



64 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Often the heart of the youth had burned and 

yearned to embrace him, 
Often his Hps had essayed to speak, imploring 

for pardon; 
All the old friendship came back, with its tender 

and grateful emotions; 60 

But his pride overmastered the nobler nature 

within him — 
Pride, and the sense of his wrong, and the 

burning fire of the insult. 
So he beheld his friend departing in anger, 

but spake not. 
Saw him go forth to danger, perhaps to death, 

and he spake not! 
Then he arose from his bed, and heard what 

the people were saying, 65 

Joined in the talk at the door, with Stephen 

and Richard and Gilbert, 
Joined in the morning prayer, and in the reading 

of Scripture, 
And, with the others, in haste went hurrying 

down to the sea-shore, 
Down to the Plymouth Rock, that had been to 

their feet as a doorstep 

69. Plymouth Rock. A rock in Plymouth Harbor, now 
protected by a monument, upon which the Pilgrims were 
supposed to have stepped in landing. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 65 

Into a world unknown — the corner-stone of a 
nation! 70 

There with his boat was the Master, already 

a Httle impatient 
Lest he should lose the tide, or the wind might 

shift to the eastward, 
Square-built, hearty and strong, with an odor 

of ocean about him. 
Speaking with this one and that, and cramming 

letters and parcels 
Into his pockets capacious, and messages min- 
gled together 75 
Into his narrow brain, till at last he was wholly 

bewildered. 
Nearer the boat stood Alden, with one foot 

placed on the gunwale. 
One still firm on the rock, and talking at times 

with the sailors, 
Seated erect on the thwarts, all ready and eager 

for starting. 
He too was eager to go, and thus put an end to 

his anguish, 80 

Thinking to fly from despair, that swifter than 

keel is or canvas. 
Thinking to drown in the sea the ghost that 

would rise and pursue him. 



66 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

But as he gazed on the crowd, he beheld the 

form of Priscilla 
Standing dejected among them, unconscious of 

all that was passing. 
Fixed were her eyes upon his, as if she divined 

his intention, 85 

Fixed with a look so sad, so reproachful, im- 
ploring, and patient, 
That with a sudden revulsion his heart recoiled 

from its purpose, 
As from the verge of a crag, where one step 

more is destruction. 
Strange is the heart of man, with its quick, 

mysterious instincts! 
Strange is the life of man, and fatal or fated 

are moments, 90 

Whereupon turn, as on hinges, the gates of the 

wall adamantine! 
"Here I remain!" he exclaimed, as he looked 

at the heavens above him, 

91. Hinges. Milton is fond of using this figure. See 
Paradise Lost, vii., 205. 

"Heaven open'd wide 
Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound 
On golden hinges moving." 

91. Adamantine. Adamant is an exceedingly hard 
stone. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND ISH 67 

Thanking the Lord whose breath had scattered 

the mist and the madness, 
Wherein, blind and lost, to death he was stagger- 
ing headlong. 
''Yonder snow-white cloud, that floats in the 

ether above me, 95 

Seems like a hand that is pointing and beckoning 

over the ocean. 
There is another hand, that is not so spectral 

and ghost-hke, 
Holding me, drawing me back, and clasping 

mine for protection. 
Float, O hand of cloud, and vanish away in the 

ether! 
Roll thyself up hke a fist, to threaten and daunt 

me; I heed not 100 

Either your warning or menace, or any omen of 

evil! 
There is no land so sacred, no air so pure and 

so wholesome, 
As is the air she breathes, and the soil that is 

pressed by her footsteps. 
Here for her sake will I stay, and like an in- 
visible presence 
Hover about her forever, protecting, supporting 

her weakness; 105 



68 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Yes! as my foot was the first that stepped on 

this rock at the landing, 
So, with the blessing of God, shall it be the last 

at the leaving!" 

Meanwhile the Master alert, but with dignified 

air and important, 
Scanning with watchful eye the tide and the wind 

and the weather. 
Walked about on the sands ; and the people 

crowded around him no 

Saying a few lasi words, and enforcing his careful 

remembrance. 
Then, taking each by the hand, as if he were 

grasping a tiller, 
Into the boat he sprang, and in haste shoved 

off to his vessel. 
Glad in his heart to get rid of all this worry 

and flurry. 
Glad to be gone from a land of sand and sick- 
ness and sorrow, 1 1 5 
Short allowance of victual, and plenty of nothing 

but Gospel! 
Lost in the sound of the oars was the last 

farewell of the Pilgrims. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 69 

O Strong hearts and true! not one went back 

in the May Flower 1 
No, not one looked back, who had set his hand 

to this ploughing! 

Soon were heard on board the shouts and 

songs of the sailors 120 

Heaving the windlass round, and hoisting the 

ponderous anchor. 
Then the yards were braced, and all sails set 

to the west- wind, 
Blowing steady and strong; and the May Flower 

sailed from the harbor, 
Rounded the point of the Gurnet, and leaving 

far to the southward 
Island and cape of sand, and the Field of the 

First Encounter, 125 

Took the wind on her quarter, and stood for 

the open Atlantic, 
Borne on the send of the sea, and the swelhng 

hearts of the Pilgrims. 

Long in silence they watched the receding 
sail of the vessel. 
Much endeared to them all, as something living 
and human; 

124. Gurnet. A neck of land just opposite Plymouth 

HuriK)r. 



70 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Then, as if filled with the spirit, and wrapped 

in a vision prophetic, 130 

Baring his hoary head, the excellent Elder of 

Plymouth 
Said, ''Let us pray!" and they prayed, and 

thanked the Lord and took courage. 
Mournfully sobbed the waves at the base of the 

rock, and above them 
Bowed and whispered the wheat on the hill of 

death, and their kindred 
Seemed to awake in their graves, and to join 

in the prayer that they uttered. 135 

Sun-illumined and white, on the eastern verge 

of the ocean 
Gleamed the departing sail, hke a marble slab 

in a graveyard; 
Buried beneath it lay forever all hope of es- 
caping. 
Lo! as they turned to depart, they saw the 

form of an Indian, 
Watching them from the hill, but while they 

spake with each other, 140 

Pointing with outstretched hands, and saying, 

"Look!" he had vanished. 
So they returned to their homes; but Alden 

lingered a little, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 71 

Musing alone on the shore, and watching the 

wash of the billows 
Round the base of the rock, and the sparkle 

and flash of the sunshine^ 
Like the spirit of God, moving visibly over the 

waters. 145 

65. spirit of God. Compare Gen., 1., 2. 

"And the earth was without form, and void; and dark- 
ness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters." 



VI. 

PRISCILLA. 

Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the 
shore of the ocean, 

Thinking of many things, and most of all of 
Priscilla ; 

And as if thought had the power to draw to 
itself, like the loadstone. 

Whatsoever it touches, by subtile laws of its 
nature, 

Lo! as he turned to depart, Priscilla was stand- 
ing beside him. 5 

''Are you so much offended, you will not speak 
to me?" said she. 

''Am I so much to blame, that yesterday, when 
you were pleading 

Warmly the cause of another, my heart, im- 
pulsive and wayward. 

Pleaded your own, and spake out, forgetful 
perhaps of decorum? 

3. Loadstone. A kind of stone which possesses the 
power of attracting iron. 

73 



74 COURTSHIP OF MILES STAND ISH 

Certainly you can forgive me for speaking so 

frankly, for saying lo 

What I ought not to have said, yet now I can 

never unsay it ; 
For there are moments in life, when the heart 

is so full of emotion, 
That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depth 

hke a pebble 
Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its 

secret. 
Spilt on the ground like water, can never be 

gathered together. 15 

Yesterday I was shocked, when I heard you 

speak of Miles Standish, 
Praising his virtues, transforming his very de- 
fects into virtues. 
Praising his courage and strength, and even his 

fighting in Flanders, 
As if by fighting alone you could win the heart 

of a woman. 
Quite overlooking yourself and the rest, in 

exalting your hero. 
Therefore I spake as I did, by an irresistible 

impulse. 20 

You will forgive me, I hope, for the sake of the 

friendship between us, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 75 

Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily 

broken!" 
Thereupon answered John Alden, the scholar, 

the friend of Miles Standish 
''I was not angry with you, with myself alone I 
was angry, ^5 

Seeing how badly I managed the matter I had 

in my keeping." 
''Nol" interrupted the maiden, with answer 

prompt and decisive; 
''No; you were angry with me, for speaking 

so frankly and freely. 
It was wrong, I acknowledge; for it is the fate 

of a woman 
Long to be patient and silent, to wait Hke a 
ghost that is speechless, 3° 

Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell 

of its silence. 
Hence is the inner life of so many suffering 

women 
Sunless and silent and deep, hke subterranean 

rivers 
Running through caverns of darkness, unheard, 

unseen, and unfruitful. 
Chafing their channels of stone, with endless 

and profitless murmurs." 3 5 



76 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Thereupon answered John Alden, the young 

man, the lover of women: 
''Heaven forbid it, Priscilla; and truly they 

seem to me always 
More hke the beautiful rivers that watered the 

garden of Eden, 
More like the river Euphrates, through deserts 

of Havilah flowing. 
Filling the land with delight, and memories 

sweet of the garden!" 40 

"Ah, by these words, I can see," again inter- 
rupted the maiden, 
''How very little you prize me, or care for what 

I am saying. 
When from the depths of my heart, in pain 

and with secret misgiving. 
Frankly I speak to you, asking for sympathy 

only and kindness. 
Straightway you take up my words, that are 

plain and direct and in earnest, 45 



39. Euphrates. One of the four rivers mentioned in 
Genesis which flowed out of the Garden of Eden. 



39 . Havilah. A land mentioned in Genesis surrounded 
by the river Pison: 

"The name of the first is Pison: that is it which com- 
passeth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold." 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 77 

Turn them away from their meaning, and an- 
swer with flattering phrases. 

This is not right, is not just, is not true to the 
best that is in you; 

For I know and esteem you, and feel that your 
nature is noble. 

Lifting mine up to a higher, a more ethereal 
level. 

Therefore I value your friendship, and feel it 
perhaps the more keenly 50 

If you say aught that imphes I am only as one 
among many. 

If you make use of those common and compli- 
mentary phrases 

Most men think so fine, in dealing and speaking 
with women. 

But which women reject as insipid, if not as 
insulting." 

Mute and amazed was Alden; and Hstened 

and looked at Priscilla, 55 

Thinking he never had seen her more fair, more 

divine in her beauty. 
He who but yesterday pleaded so glibly the 

cause of another. 
Stood there embarrassed and silent, and seeking 

in vain for an answer. 



78 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

So the maiden went on, and little divined or 

imagined 
What was at work in his heart, that made him 

so awkward and speechless. 60 

^'Let us, then, be what we are, and speak what 

we think, and in all things 
Keep ourselves loyal to truth, and the sacred 

professions of friendship. 
It is no secret I tell you, nor am I ashamed to 

declare it: 
I have liked to be with you, to see you, to speak 

with you always. 
So I was hurt at your words, and a little af- 
fronted to hear you 65 
Urge me to marry your friend, though he were 

the Captain Miles Standish. 
For I must tell you the truth: much more to 

me is your friendship 
Than all the love he could give, were he twice 

the hero you think him." 
Then she extended her hand, and Alden, who 

eagerly grasped it. 
Felt all the wounds in his heart, that were aching 

and bleeding so sorely, 70 

Healed by the touch of that hand, and he said, 

with a voice full of feeling: 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 79 

*'Yes, we must ever be friends; and of all who 

offer you friendship 
Let me be ever the first, the truest, the nearest 

and dearest!" 



Casting a farewell look at the glimmering 

sail of the May Flower, 
Distant, but still in sight, and sinking below 

the horizon, 75 

Homeward together they walked, with a strange, 

indefinite feeling, 
That all the rest had departed and left them 

alone in the desert. 
But, as they went through the fields in the 

blessing and smile of the sunshine, 
Lighter grew their hearts, and Priscilla said 

very archly: 
''Now that our terrible Captain has gone in 

pursuit of the Indians, 80 

Where he is happier far than he would be com- 
manding a household. 
You may speak boldly, and tell me of all that 

happened between you, 
When you returned last night, and said how 

ungrateful you found me." 



So COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Thereupon answered John Alden, and told her 

the whole of the story — 
Told her his own despair, and the direful wrath 

of Miles Standish. 85 

Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between 

laughing and earnest, 
"He is a Httle chimney, and heated hot in a 

moment!" 
But as he gently rebuked her, and told her how 

much he had suffered — 
How he had even determined to sail that day 

in the May Flower, 
And had remained for her sake, on hearing the 

dangers that threatened — 90 

All her manner was changed, and she said with 

a faltering accent, 
"Truly I thank you for this: how good you 

have been to me alwavs!" 



Thus, as a pilgrim devout, who toward Jeru- 
salem journeys, 

Taking three steps in advance, and one reluc- 
tantly backward, 

Urged by importunate zeal, and withheld by 
pangs of contrition; 95 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 8i 

Slowly but Steadily onward, receding yet ever 

advancing, 
Journeyed this Puritan youth to the Holy Land 

of his longings, 
Urged by the fervor of love, and withheld by 

remorseful misgivings. 




A PILGRIM SOLDIER 



VII. 

THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH. 

Meanwhile the stalwart Miles Stand ish was 
marching steadily northward, 

Winding through forest and swamp, and along 
the trend of the sea-shore. 

All day long, with hardly a halt, the fire of his 
anger 

Burning and crackling within, and the sul- 
phurous odor of powder 

Seeming more sweet to his nostrils than all the 
scents of the forest. 5 

Silent and moody he went, and much he re- 
volved his discomfort; 

He who was used to success, and to easy vic- 
tories always, 

Thus to be flouted, rejected, and laughed to 
scorn by a maiden, 

Thus to be mocked and betrayed by the friend 
whom most he had trusted! 

Ah! 'twas too much to be borne, and he fretted 
and chafed in his armor! lo 

83 



84 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

"I alone am to blame," he muttered, ''for 

mine was the folly. 
What has a rough old soldier, grown grim and 

gray in the harness. 
Used to the camp and its ways, to do with the 

wooing of maidens? 
'Twas but a dream — let it pass — let it vanish 

hke so many others! 
What I thought was a flower, is only a weed, 

and is worthless; 15 

Out of my heart will I pluck it, and throw it 

avs^ay, and henceforward 
Be but a fighter of battles, a lover and wooer of 

dangers!" 
Thus he revolved in his mind his sorry defeat 

and discomfort. 
While he was marching by day or lying at night 

in the forest, 
Looking up at the trees, and the constellations 

beyond them. 20 

After a three days' march he came to an 

Indian encampment 
Pitched on the edge of a meadow, between the 

sea and the forest; 
Women at work by the tents, and the warriors 

horrid with war-paint, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 85 

Seated about a fire, and smoking and talking 

together ; 
Who, when they saw from afar the sudden 

approach of the white men, 25 

Saw the flash of the sun on breastplate and 

sabre and musket. 
Straightway leaped to their feet, and two, from 

among them advancing, 
Came to parley with Standish, and offer him 

furs as a present; 
Friendship was in their looks, but in their hearts 

there was hatred. 
Braves of the tribes were these, and brothers 

gigantic in stature, 30 

Huge as Goliath of Gath, or the terrible Og, 

king of Bashan; 
One was Pecksuot named, and the other was 

called Wattawamat. 
Round their necks were suspended their knives 

in scabbards of wampum, 



31. Goliath of Gath. A gigantic Philistine mentioned 
in I. Sam., 17. His height was between nine and eleven 
feet. 

31. Og. An Amorite so large that his bed was four- 
teen feet long. He was slain by the Israelites under Moses. 

;^^. Wampum. Small shell beads used by the Indians 
for money and ornaments. 



86 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Two-edged, trenchant knives, with points as 

sharp as a needle. 
Other arms had they none, for they were cunning 

and crafty. 3 5 

''Welcome, EngHsh!" they said — these words 

they had learned from the traders 
Touching at times on the coast, to barter and 

chaffer for peltries. 
Then in their native tongue they began to parley 

with Standish, 
Through his guide and interpreter, Hobomok, 

friend of the white man, 
Begging for blankets and knives, but mostly 

for muskets and powder, 40 

Kept by the white man, they said, concealed, 

with the plague, in his cellars, 
Ready to be let loose, and destroy his brother 

the red man! 
But when Standish refused, and said he would 

give them the Bible, 
Suddenly changing their tone, they began to 

boast and to bluster. 
Then Wattawamat advanced with a stride in 

front of the other, 45 

And, with a lofty demeanor, thus vauntingly 

spake to the Captain: 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 87 

''Now Wattawamat can see, by the fiery eyes 

of the Captain, 
Angry is he in his heart; but the heart of the 

brave Wattawamat 
Is not afraid at the sight. He was not bom of 

a woman. 
But on a mountain, at night, from an oak-tree 

riven by Hghtning. 50 

Forth he sprang at a bound, with all his weapons 

about him, 
Shouting, 'Who is there here to fight with the 

brave Wattawamat?' " 
Then he unsheathed his knife, and, whetting 

the blade on his left hand. 
Held it aloft and displayed a woman's face on 

the handle. 
Saying, with bitter expression and look of sinister 

meaning : 5 5 

"I have another at home, with the face of a 

man on the handle; 
By and by they shall marry; and there will be 

plenty of children!" 

Then stood Pecksuot forth, self-vaunting, in- 
sulting Miles Standish: 
While with his fingers he patted the knife that 
hung at his bosom, 



88 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Drawing it half from its sheath, and plunging 

it back, as he muttered, 60 

''By and by it shall see; it shall eat; ah, ha I 

but shall speak not! 
This is the mighty Captain the white men have 

sent to destroy us! 
He is a Httle man: let him go and work with 

the women!" 

Meanwhile Standish had noted the faces and 

figures of Indians 
Peeping and creeping about from bush to tree 

in the forest, 65 

Feigning to look for game, with arrows set on 

their bow-strings, 
Drawing about him still closer and closer the 

net of their ambush. 
But undaunted he stood, and dissembled and 

treated them smoothly; 
So the old chronicles say, that were writ in the 

days of the fathers. 
But when he heard their defiance, the boast, the 

taunt, and the insult, 70 

All the hot blood of his race, of Sir Hugh and 

of Thurston de Standish, 
Boiled and beat in his heart, and swelled in the 

veins of his temples. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 89 

Headlong he leaped on the boaster, and, snatch- 
ing his knife from its scabbard. 
Plunged it into his heart, and, reeling backward, 

the savage 
Fell with his face to the sky, and a fiendlike 

fierceness upon it. 75 

Straight there arose from the forest the awful 

sound of the war-whoop, 
And, hke a flurry of snow on the whistHng wind 

of December, 
Swift and sudden and keen came a flight of 

feathery arrows. 
Then came a cloud of smoke, and out of the 

cloud came the lightning, 
Out of the hghtning thunder; and death unseen 

ran before it. 80 

Frightened the savages fled for shelter in swamp 

and in thicket. 
Hotly pursued and beset; but their sachem, 

the brave Wattawamat, 
Fled not; he was dead. Unswerving and swift 

had a bullet 
Passed through his brain, and he fell with both 

hands clutching the greensward. 
Seeming in death to hold back from his foe the 

land of his fathers. 85 



90 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

There on the flowers of the meadow the war- 
riors lay, and above them, 

Silent, with folded arms, stood Hobomok, friend 
of the white man. 

Smiling at length he exclaimed to the stalwart 
Captain of Plymouth: 

''Pecksuot bragged very loud, of his courage, 
his strength, and his stature — 

Mocked the great Captain, and called him a 
Httle man; but I see now 90 

Big enough have you been to lay him speechless 
before you!" 

Thus the first battle was fought and won by 

the stalwart Miles Standish. 
When the tidings thereof were brought to the 

village of Plymouth, 
And as a trophy of war the head of the brave 

Wattawamat 
Scowled from the roof of the fort, which at once 

was a church and a fortress, 95 

All who beheld it rejoiced, and praised the 

Lord, and took courage. 
Only Priscilla averted her face from this spectre 

of terror, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 91 

Thanking God in her heart that she had not 

married Miles Standish; 
Shrinking, fearing almost, lest, coming home 

from his battles, 
He should lay claim to her hand, as the prize 

and reward of his valor. 10© 



VIII. 

THE SPINNING-WHEEL. 

Month after month passed away, and in Autumn 

the ships of the merchants 
Came with kindred and friends, with cattle and 

com for the Pilgrims. 
All in the village was peace; the men were 

intent on their labors, 
Busy with hewing and building, with garden- 
plot and with merestead. 
Busy with breaking the glebe, and mowing the 

grass in the meadows, 5 

Searching the sea for its fish, and hunting the 

deer in the forest. 
All the village was peace ; but at times the rumor 

of warfare 
Filled the air with alarm, and the apprehension 

of danger. 

4. Merestead. The land within a certain mere or 
boundary. 

5. Glehc. Originally a clod of earth; more particularly, 
the cultivated land belonging to a parish church. 

93 



94 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Bravely the stalwart Miles Standish was scouring 

the land with his forces, 
Waxing valiant in fight and defeating the alien 

armies, i o 

Till his name had become a sound of fear to the 

nations. 
Anger was still in his heart, but at times the 

remorse and contrition 
Which in all noble natures succeed the passionate 

outbreak, 
Came like a rising tide, that encounters the rush 

of a river, 
Staying its current awhile, but making it bitter 

and brackish. i =; 



Meanwhile Alden at home had built him a 
new habitation, 

Sohd, substantial, of timber rough-hewn from 
the firs of the forest. 

Wood-barred was the door, and the roof was 
covered with rushes; 

Latticed the windows were, and the window- 
panes were of paper, 

Oiled to admit the light, while wind and rain 
were excluded. 20 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



95 



There too he dug a well, and around it planted 

an orchard: 
Still may be seen to this day some trace of the 

well and the orchard. 
Close to the house was the stall, where, safe 

and secure from annoyance, 
Raghom, the snow-white steer, that had fallen 

to Alden's allotment 
In the division of cattle, might ruminate in the 

night-time 2 5 

Over the pastures he cropped, made fragrant 

by sweet pennyroyal. 

Oft when liis labor was finished, with eager 

feet would the dreamer 
Follow the pathway that ran through the woods 

to the house of Priscilla, 
Led by illusions romantic and subtile deceptions 

of fancy, 
Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in the 

semblance of friendship. 30 

Ever of her he thought, when he fashioned the 

walls of his dweUing; 
Ever of her he thought when he delved in the 

soil of his garden; 



96 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Ever of her he thought, when he read in his 

Bible on Sunday 
Praise of the virtuous woman, as she is de- 
scribed in the Proverbs — 
How the heart of her husband doth safely trust 

in her always, 3 5 

How all the days of her hfe she will do him 

good, and not evil. 
How she seeketh the wool and the flax and 

worketh with gladness. 
How she layeth her hand to the spindle and 

holdeth the distaff, 
How she is not afraid of the snow for herself or 

her household. 
Knowing her household are clothed with the 

scarlet cloth of her weaving! 40 



34. Proverbs, xxxi. 

10. "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is 
far above rubies. 

11. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, 
so that he shall have no need of spoil. 

12. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her 
life. 

13. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly 
with her hands. 

19. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands 
hold the distaff. 

21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household; 
for all her household are clothed with scarlet." 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 97 

So as she sat at her wheel one afternoon in 

the Autumn, 
Alden, who opposite sat, and was watching her 

dexterous fingers. 
As if the thread she was spinning were that of 

his hfe and his fortune, 
After a pause in their talk, thus spake to the 

sound of the spindle. 
"Truly, Priscilla," he said, ''when I see you 

spinning and spinning, 45 

Never idle a moment, but thrifty and thoughtful 

of others, 
Suddenly you are transformed, are visibly 

changed in a moment; 
You are no longer Priscilla, but Bertha the 

Beautiful Spinner." 
Here the light foot on the treadle grew swifter 

and swifter; the spindle 
Uttered an angry snarl, and the thread snapped 

short in her fingers; 50 

While the impetuous speaker, not heeding the 

mischief, continued: 



48. Bertha. The wife of Pepin the Little and mother 
of Charles the Great of France. She died in 783 and was 
long celebrated in legend and story. 



98 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

"You are the beautiful Bertha, the spinner, the 

queen of Helvetia; 
She whose story I read at a stall in the streets 

of Southampton, 
Who, as she rode on her palfrey, o'er valley and 

meadow and mountain. 
Ever was spinning her thread from a distaff 

fixed to her saddle. 55 

She was so thrifty and good, that her name 

passed into a proverb. 
So shall it be with your own, when the spinning- 
wheel shall no longer 
Hum in the house of the farmer, and fill its 

chambers with music. 
Then shall the mothers, reproving, relate how 

it was in their childhood. 
Praising the good old times, and the days of 

Priscilla the spinner!" 60 

Straight uprose from her wheel the beautiful 

Puritan maiden, 
Pleased with the praise of her thrift from him 

whose praise was the sweetest, 
Drew from the reel on the table a snowy skein 

of her spinning, 

52. Helvetia. A part of Gaul nearly corresponding to 
Switzerland. 

53. Southampton. An English seaport. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 99 

Thus making answer meanwhile, to the flatter- 
ing phrases of Alden : 
"Come, you must not be idle; if I am a pattern 
for housewives, ^5 

Show yourself equally worthy of being the model 

of husbands. 
Hold this skein in your hands, while I wind it, 

ready for knitting; 
Then who knows but hereafter, when fashions 

have changed and the manners, 
Fathers may talk to their sons of the good old 

times of John Alden!" 
Thus, with a jest and a laugh, the skein on his 
hands she adjusted, 7° 

He sitting awkwardly there, with his arms 

extended before him, 
She standing graceful, erect, and winding the 

thread from his fingers. 
Sometimes chiding a little his clumsy manner of 

holding, 
Sometimes touching his hands, as she disen- 
tangled expertly 
Twist or knot in the yam, unawares — for how 
could she help it? 7 5 

Sending electrical thrills through every nerve 
in his body. 

uofii. 



loo COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Lo! in the midst of this scene, a breathless 

messenger entered, 
Bringing in hurry and heat the terrible news 

from the village. 
Yes ; Miles Standish was dead ! — an Indian 

had brought them the tidings — 
Slain by a poisoned arrow, shot down in the 

front of the battle, 80 

Into an ambush beguiled, cut off with the whole 

of his forces; 
All the town woiild be burned, and all the 

people be murdered! 
Such were the tidings of evil that burst on the 

hearts of the hearers. 
Silent and statue-Kke stood Priscilla, her face 

looking backward 
Still at the face of the speaker, her arms up- 

hfted in horror; 85 

But John Alden, upstarting, as if the barb of 

the arrow 
Piercing the heart of his friend had struck his 

own, and had sundered 
Once and forever the bonds that held him bound 

as a captive, 
Wild with excess of sensation, the awful delight 

of his freedom, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH loi 

Mingled with pain and regret, unconscious of 

what he was doing, 90 

Clasped, almost with a groan, the motionless 

form of Priscilla, 
Pressing her close to his heart, as fore\er his 

own, and exclaiming: 
"Those whom the Lord hath united, let no 

man put them asunder!" 

Even as rivulets twain, from distant and sep- 
arate sources, 
Seeing each other afar, as they leap from the 

rocks, and pursuing 95 

Each one its devious path, but drawing nearer 

and nearer. 
Rush together at last, at their trysting-place in 

the forest; 
So these lives that had run thus far in separate 

channels, 
Coming in sight of each other, then swerving 

and flowing asunder, 
Parted by barriers strong, but drawing nearer 

and nearer, 100 

Rushed together at last, and one was lost in the 

other. 

93. "Those whom" etc. From the Order of Marriage 
in the Book of Common Prayer. 



IX. 

THE WEDDING DAY. 

Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the 

tent of purple and scarlet, 
Issued the sun, the great High-Priest, in his 

garments resplendent, 
Holiness unto the Lord, in letters of light, on 

his forehead, 
Round the hem of his robe the golden bells and 

pomegranates. 
Blessing the world he came, and the bars of 

vapor beneath him 5 

Gleamed like a grate of brass, and the sea at 

his feet was a laver! 

This was the wedding mom of Priscilla the 
Puritan maiden. 

4. Golden hells. Exodus, xxviii. 

"And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pome- 
granates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about 
the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round 
about." 

6. Laver. A large circular vessel, cast from the polished 
brass mirrors contributed by the Hebrew women, and placed 
between the door of the tabernacle and the altar, with water 
for the sacred ablutions. 

103 



I04 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Friends were assembled together; the Elder 

and Magistrate also 
Graced the scene with their presence, and stood 

like the Law and the Gospel, 
One with the sanction of earth and one with the 

blessing of heaven. ' lo 

Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of 

Ruth and of Boaz. 
Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the 

words of betrothal. 
Taking each other for husband and wife in the 

Magistrate's presence. 
After the Puritan way, and the laudable custom 

of Holland. 
Fervently then, and devoutly, the excellent Elder 

of Plymouth 15 

Prayed for the hearth and the home, that were 

founded that day in affection. 
Speaking of life and of death, and imploring 

divine benedictions. 

Lo! when the service was ended, a form ap- 
peared on the threshold, 

II. Ruth. The daughter-in-law of Naomi, who fled 
with her from the famine into Moab. 

II. Boaz. A kinsman of Naomi in Moab, who married 
Ruth. See Ruth, iv., 11. 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 105 

Clad in armor of steel, a sombre and sorrowful 

figure ! 
Why does the bridegroom start and stare at the 

strange apparition? 20 

Why does the bride turn pale, and hide her 

face on his shoulder? 
Is it a phantom of air — a bodiless, spectral 

illusion ? 
Is it a ghost from the grave, that has come to 

forbid the betrothal? 
Long had it stood there unseen, a guest un- 
invited, un welcomed; 
Over its clouded eyes there had passed at times 

an expression 25 

Softening the gloom and revealing the warm 

heart hidden beneath them, 
As when across the sky the driving rack of the 

rain -cloud 
Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun 

by its brightness. 
Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its Hps, 

but was silent, 
As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting 

intention. 30 

But when were ended the troth and the prayer 

and the last benediction, 



io6 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Into the room it strode, and the people beheld 

with amazement 
Bodily there in his armor Miles Standish, the 

Captain of Plymouth! 
Grasping the bridegroom's hand, he said with 

emotion, "Forgive me! 
I have been angry and hurt — too long have I 

cherished the feeling; 35 

I have been cruel and hard, but now, thank 

God! it is ended. 
Mine is the same hot blood that leaped in the 

veins of Hugh Standish, 
Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in atoning 

for error. 
Never so much as bow was Miles Standish the 

friend of John Alden." 
Thereupon answered the bridegroom: ''Let all 

be forgotten between us — 40 

All save the dear, old friendship, and that shall 

grow older and dearer!" 
Then the Captain advanced, and, bowing, 

saluted Priscilla, 
Gravely, and after the manner of old-fashioned 

gentry in England, 
Something of camp and of court, of town and 

of country, commingled, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 107 

Wishing her joy of her wedding, and loudly 
lauding her husband. 

Then he said with a smile: '*I should have re- 
membered the adage — 

If you would be well served, you must serve 
yourself; and moreover, 

No man can gather cherries in Kent at the 
season of Christmas!" 

Great was the people's amazement, and 

greater yet their rejoicing. 
Thus to behold once more the sun-burnt face 

of their Captain, 50 

Whom they had mourned as dead; and they 

gathered and crowded about him. 
Eager to see him and hear him, forgetful of 

bride and bridegroom. 
Questioning, answering, laughing, and each in- 
terrupting the other, 
Till the good Captain declared, being quite 

overpowered and bewildered, 
He had rather by far break into an Indian 

encampment, 5 5 

Than come again to a wedding to which he had 

not been invited. 

48. Kent. A country in the extreme southeast of Eng- 
land. 



io8 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Meanwhile the bridegroom went forth and 

stood with the bride at the doorway, 
Breathing the perfumed air of that warm and 

beautiful morning. 
Touched with autumnal tints, but lonely and 

sad in the sunshine, 
Lay extended before them the land of toil and 

privation; 60 

There were the graves of the dead, and the 

barren waste of the sea-shore, 
There the familiar fields, the groves of pine, 

and the meadows; 
But to their eyes transfigured, it seemed as the 

Garden of Eden, 
Filled with the presence of God, whose voice 

was the soimd of the ocean. 

Soon was their vision disturbed by the noise 
and stir of departure, 65 

Friends coming forth from the house, and im- 
patient of longer delaying. 

Each with his plan for the day, and the work 
that was left uncompleted. 

Then from a stall near at hand, amid exclama- 
tions of wonder, 

Alden the thoughfiil, the careful, so happy, so 
proud of Priscilla, 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 109 

Brought out his snow-white steer, obeying the 

hand of its master, 70 

Led by a cord that was tied to an iron ring in 

its nostrils, 
Covered with crimson cloth, and a cushion placed 

for a saddle. 
She should not walk, he said, through the dust 

and heat of the noonday; 
Nay, she should ride like a queen, not plod 

along like a peasant. 
Somewhat alarmed at first, but reassured by the 

others, 75 

Placing her hand on the cushion, her foot in 

the hand of her husband, 
Gayly, with joyous laugh, Priscilla mounted her 

palfrey. 
*' Nothing is wanting now,' ' he said with a smile, 

"but the distaff; 
Then you would be in truth my queen, my 

beautiful Bertha!" 

Onward the bridal procession now moved to 
their new habitation, 80 

Happy husband and wife, and friends conversing 
together. 

Pleasantly murmured the brook, as they crossed 
the ford in the forest, 



no COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 

Pleased with the image that passed, like a dream 

of love through its bosom, 
Tremulous, floating in air, o'er the depth of the 

azure abysses. 
Down through the golden leaves the sun was 

pouring his splendors, 
Gleaming on purple grapes, that, from branches 

above them suspended. 
Mingled their odorous breath with the balm of 

the pine and the fir-tree. 
Wild and sweet as the clusters that grew in the 

valley of Eshcol. 
Like a picture it seemed of the primitive, pas- 
toral ages. 
Fresh with the youth of the world, and recalling 

Rebecca and Isaac, 90 

88. Eshcol. A small, fertile valley near Hebron, which 
abounds in grapes, figs and pomegranates. See Num., 
XIII., 22-27. 

"And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down 
from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they 
bare it between two upon a staff: and they brought of the 
pomegranates, and of the figs." 

90. Rebecca and Isaac. See Gen., xxi., 24-28 and xxiv., 
63, 64. 

"And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even- 
tide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold, the 
camels were coming. 

"And Rebecca lifted up her e3'es, and when she saw Isaac, 
she lighted off the camel." 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH iii 

Old and yet ever new, and simple and beautiful 

always, 
Love immortal and young in the endless sue 

cession of lovers. 
So through the Plymouth woods passed onward 

the bridal procession. 



JAM 



IS 



t90P 



IRVING. History of New York. Vol. I. 

History of New York. Vol. H. 

Sketch Book. Part I. 
(Is Sketch Book. Part II. 

Jj Tales of a Traveller. Parts I. and II. 

Sjs Tales of a Traveller. Parts III. and IV. 

SjS JOHNSON. Rasselas, the Prince of Abyssinia. 

<IS Lives of the Poets. 

jj Addison, Savage, Swift. 

^ Gay, Thompson, ^Young, Gray, etc. 

flv Waller, Milton, Cowley. 

jjj Prior, Congreve, Blackmore, Pope. 

S Butler, Denham, Dryden, Roscommon, 

<fe etc. 

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Evangeline, v 

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LOWELL. Vision of Sir Launfal. 

LAMB. Essays of Elia. 

Tales from Shakespeare. Vol. L 
Tales from Shakespeare. Vol. II. 

f MACAU LAY. Life of Johnson. 
Life of Goldsmith. 
jjj Essay on Milton. 

(^ Essay on Addison. 

* Francis Bacon. 

J Warren Hastings. 

S Lays of Anclent Rome. 

% MULOCK. Little Lame Prince. 

A MILTON. Paradise Lost. Books I. and II. 
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<R MITCHELL. Reveries of a Bachelor. 

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ifs Pericles, Cicero, etc. 

<IS Alcibiades and Coriolanus, Aristides, etc. 

jj5 Agesilaus, Pompey and Phocion. 

J POE. Raven and Other Poems. 
4^ Tales. 







*E. Rape of the Lock. 

Translation of thiI 

Poems. 

Essay on Man. 
RUSKIN. King of the Golden Ri 

Sesame and Lilies. 
SHAKESPEARE. Macbeth. 

Merchant of Venici. 

Twelfth Night. 

Henry VIII. 

The Tempest. 

Midsummer Night's Dream. 

As You Like It. 

Julius Caesar. -^^^^ 

Hamlet. — J^* 

King John. 
^ King Richard IL 

^ coriolanus. 

m King Henry V. 

J King Lear. 

M Cymbeline. 

* King Richard III. 
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A Romeo and Juliet 

* SOUTHEY. Life of Nelsoi|; 
■' SEWELL. Black Beauty. 

SCOTT. Marmion. 

Lay of the Last Minstrel. 

Lady of the Lake. 
STEELE. Isaac Bickerstaff, Physician and Astrologer. 
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Gulliver Among the Giants. 
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The Faery Queene. Book I., Vol. IL 
TENNYSON. The Princess. 

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Enoch Arden. 
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